


Who Only Stand and Wait

by imaginary_golux



Category: Tortall - Tamora Pierce
Genre: Battle, F/M, Fear, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 00:49:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29393640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imaginary_golux/pseuds/imaginary_golux
Summary: Dom is still recovering from an injury, and can't join Kel on the battlefield.He thought he'd gotten over being scared of war. It turns out it's a bit different, seeing your lover go off into danger...
Relationships: Domitan of Masbolle/Keladry of Mindelan
Comments: 2
Kudos: 44
Collections: February Ficlet Challenge 2021: Apocalypse No





	Who Only Stand and Wait

Dom is no stranger to fear. He has followed Lord Raoul into battle against men and monsters, has faced giants and spidrens and bandits and Scanrans. He knows the gut-clench of terror, the dry throat, the shaking hands.

He’s gotten over it, for the most part, when it comes to battles. He knows his own skill, knows the strength and courage of his men, and while he still feels a little bit of fear each time the horns ring and the screaming starts, it’s faint and far-away and easy to ignore. Only a fool doesn’t feel fear, but he’d started to think he’d mastered it.

He was a damned fool.

Standing on the battlements of New Hope, watching Kel lead a charge against a small horde of Scanrans, Dom thinks he might actually vomit with fear. He should be down there, should be among the warriors following Kel into battle, but the reason he’s at New Hope at all is to recover from a nasty cut to his shoulder, and his arm is still in a sling; he’d be worse than useless on a battlefield right now. The best he can do for Kel is help coordinate the slingers and archers atop the camp’s battlements, and keep a close eye out for any nasty surprises the Scanrans might have in store.

Kel is a truly marvelous warrior, deadly and magnificent, but battle is chaos, and there is _always_ the chance that something could go wrong. Dom might have to watch her die in front of him, while he’s fucking _useless_ up here.

He hasn’t had the shakes this badly since he was a stripling facing down his first battle. He clenches his free hand on the edge of the battlements and grits his teeth against the urge to scream.

He knows how to deal with this. Three deep breaths, counting backwards from ten each time, and he lets go of the battlements and turns to give his best engaging smile to the archers, who smile back a little shakily. He goes down the line, patting a few of them on their shoulders and murmuring encouraging words, keeping watch on Kel out of the corner of his eye.

His breath doesn’t come easy until the battle is over, until Kel is riding back at the head of her little troop, leaving the Scanran horde broken behind her, a good half of them dead and the rest fleeing into the woods with irritated sparrows following them.

Dom goes down to greet her at the gate, thanking Mithros and the Goddess that Neal has promised he’ll be fully healed by next week. _Next_ time, Dom will be fighting beside Kel, not watching from the battlements.

Next time, at least, he’ll be able to do something, and maybe that will help to quash the fear.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the FFC prompt "Fear," and beta'd by my marvelous Best Beloved, Turn_of_the_Sonic_Screw.


End file.
